Bom Bom comics
Space-Time Detective Genshi Promoted Jikumon Tanteidan (時空探偵ゲンシクン―進め!ジクモン探偵団), was the manga produced by Bom Bom Comics to promote the upcoming anime series. About The manga was released as a promo within Bom Bom comics. It is a short 6 chapter manga that was released as part of the promotion of the anime. Many elements of the book did not appear in the anime, those that did had slight changes. Though the series ran from december 1998 to May 1999 it is overall placed sometime in development between the production of the anime and the concepts for the series since Jitterbug-kon has his anime appearance and not his early promo appearance. Anime/Manga Differences The general tone was a little darker then the anime, being much more serious in some aspects, but more comedic in others. Even in regards to flint himself. Dr. Bernard Goodman was originally a smoker in the manga, this was reference in episode 15 when the Goodman twins meet an ancestor of theirs who was a smoker. Wolfen and Z•Z did not appear in the anime; though some aspects of Getalong & Wolfen's relationship was transferred to Sarah & Merlock's there's no counter part to Z•Z. Sarah ended up being vastly different in her characterisation than in the anime and Bros Comics manga having a much more bubbly and somewhat ditzy personality and is less a big sister figure to Flint than a the two being birds of a feather. Similarly Tony has a somewhat different personality being a bit more responsible and mature compared to his other depictions. Petra and her relationship with the Dark Lord is quite different as well; not only is Petra not in love with him but does not realise he exists, instead his manipulation of Petra is more indirect and takes the form of orchestrating the events of her life to make her bitter and angry so she would turn to a life of crime. Throughout the series we can see many flashbacks where the Dark Lord's mask can be seen either on the faces of the people and things antagonising her or those leading her a time shifter, even the man who sold her Dino & Mite as eggs had his mask. Merlock had both a different approach to his character and slightly altered character. Merlock's Vampire heritage made it to the Manga, though it took a different approach. Merlock is portrayed as a man who is inpatient with the attics of others. He is mistrusting of people due to how Vampires were forced into hiding and does not have any faith in humanity. Merlock and Sarah's roles in the anime are Getalong and Wolfen's, though Merlock's rescuing of Sarah is more slapstick humor. In the anime, Merlock because as much of a target for humor by the storyline the majority of his appearances. In the manga he is still subject to humorous situations but his klutzy accidents are absent and are replaced with simple facial reaction or general being knocked aside by other characters rather then himself getting into situations. In the manga, the few historic characters that appear had less of an important role in freeing the Shifters, with the exception of Queen Himiko who had a greater role and interacted with Jitterbug before he was stamped. Those that appeared had more comedic depictions than in the anime. Rocky and Petra's moment in chapter 1 was reworked into a new storyline which appeared as episode 22. The later Petra and Dr. Goodman's moment was reworked into episode 24. Talen's storyline is reworked into episode 27 with Nightcap being the center of the storyline and Talen gets a new storyline for her debut episode. The memories of those they meet are not erased, and history is allowed to be altered on minor levels so long as history itself is not completely re-written. Raldo has a crest and different stomach design, as does Coconaut Master. Chapters Chapter 1: Let's Step Through Time & Space Genshi-kun! FlintRockymanga.jpg|Rocky and Flint in the manga Petramanga.jpg|Petra arrives! Wolfen1.jpg|Wolfen The chapter begins with Getalong spying through a glass as the Old Timer's hour-glass home drifts between time and space, with glimpses into different timelines. Getalong is scolded for shirking, but continues to watch a human who has caught their attention; Flint Hammerhead a small boy living in pre-historic times. The shifter panics when a Tyrannosaurus Rex appears, however much to his surprise and relief the child and dinosaur clap each other on the chest before parting ways; the two are friends exchanging a quick greeting. As he continues on his way Flint spots the land of time floating by where Getalong tells the Old Timer about Flint, who agrees that he seems to be good person. Getalong says they'd like to make friends with him however Wolfen, the leader of the Time Shifters, advises against getting involved with humans as a Time Shifter's powers can be influenced by whether they are with people who are good or bad. He also explains that because of how sheltered they are shifters can easily be manipulated by evil, so instead of befriending humans they take interest in they should help them from the land of time. Just then the Dark Lord attacks noticing that Petra Fina Dagmar, who he calls his puppet, is nearby and breaks the glass around the Old Timer's home. Flint spots the breaking hourglass and calls for his father who whacks him on the head for daydreaming, Flint points to the hourglass but all his father can see is a male and female dinosaur engrossed with each other, which causes his father to get mad again. The two then start training, Flint is incredibly strong despite his small size and young age, managing to toss a large boulder to his father and lift another himself; though he's unaware of how strong he is and is more impressed by his father who insists that a nearby Brontosaurus is stronger, though he comments that he only says as much because they're friends as Flint spars with the dinosaur and wins easily. Flint once again notices the hourglass shattering and the Shifters scatter, meanwhile Petra arrives and is thrilled to see the time shifters, though puzzled when she's blamed for the attack. Wolfen transforms into his super form and attacks the ship, Petra stamps him with a stamp she was given by the Dark Lord (while disguised as a street merchant) and is pleasantly surprised to see it works. As Wolfen is consumed by dark forces, Getalong remembers the young caveman he saw and runs for help as the rest of the Time Shifters escape into different parts of the Timeline. Meanwhile, Rocky still can't see anything an increasingly upset Flint is pointing to, until Getalong lands on Rocky's face. Flint thinks Getalong is food and tries to eat him, Getalong uses his love beam on Flint, but this makes it worst as now Flint loves his potential dinner. Petra shows up and Rocky falls in love with her upon sight. Dino and Mite offer Flint a bag of pet food in exchange for Getalong, though he's tempted Getalong performs the greeting the cave boy exchanged with the dinosaur earlier, making him realise that Getalong wants to his friend and refuse to hand the shifter over. As Petra prepares to fire the fossil gun at them Rocky appears behind her and grabs her, causing her to miss and turn a dinosaur to stone. She tries to fire it at Rocky, but Getalong hits her with his love beam, causing her to fall in love with Rocky. Dino & Mite call for help from Wolfen-con, who attacks Rocky and sends him flying. Flint runs to help him, dodging Wolfen's attacks, before he tunnels under ground (mimicking a mole) and does a sneak attack on Wolfen, whacking him hard before being caught by Getalong. Wolfen sees the friendship Getalong and Flint share, causing him to remember taking notice a human child once, Sarah Goodman, and wanting to befriend her the same way Getalong wanted to befriend Flint and the Oldtimer advising him to watch over her. This allows Wolfen to break free of Petra's control and return to normal. Just then, a nearby volcano erupts and Petra flees, in the chaos Wolfen spots the fossil gun and uses it to save everyone moments before the lava reaches them. When Flint next opens his eyes, he's a stone fossil in the time bureau's laboratory and centuries have passed. Chapter 2: Who!? The One That Ate Ototan!! ZZ.jpg|Z•Z with Bubblegum Bubblegumkonmanga.jpg|Bubblegum-Kon appears The old Timer contacts an old man named Z•Z living in a beat-up home in the current timeline who has Bubblegum with him and informs him that he won't be the one retrieving the Time Shifters. Z•Z is furious and insists that he's capable of doing the job...shortly before putting his back out. The old timer explains that he has a new job for him and takes notice of Bubblegum, who Z•Z had found crying in the time stream, before asking Z•Z to leave the task of tracking the shifters down to "That Child". Z•Z has his doubt that this new time detective can do the job and the old timer asks him to give him a chance and says that he's waiting to awaken at the time bureau. Meanwhile back at Dr. Bernard Goodman's lab, Getalong, Rocky Hammerhead and Flint Hammerhead's fossils are examined and Sarah is already trying to befriend them. Puu-chan hands Dr.Goodman the fossil gun, which he and the twins recognise as the gun that he invented, which had been sold to Miss Iknow some time before. Dr.Goodman uses it to turn Flint and Getalong back to normal, the excited caveboy investigates everything in the lab while Dr. Goodman identifies Getalong as a timeshifter. When Flint tries to exchange his usual greeting with Sarah, she becomes upset that he touched her chest until Getalong explains that's how he greets his friends. This calms her down and she accepts his friendship, smiling as Flint turns his attention to a now worried Tony. Dino and Mite are watching the events and wonder how they should retrieve the gun. When Mite comments on how Petra is still pinning over Rocky, Dino tells him not to bad mouth her as their hatching from eggs she purchased from a masked man (the dark lord in disguise) was the first of many disappointments she's suffered. Because of all the unhappiness they've seen her suffer Dino wants to do everything possible to make her happy. After hearing the story Dr. Goodman deduces that somebody must have turned them into fossils which causes Flint & Getalong to realise Wolfen or Rocky must have done it and both are missing. Flint looks all over the lab for his father and is briefly puzzled that Dr. Goodman has his scent, he then notices the bones from the chicken Dr. Goodman had been eating earlier and assumes he ate his father. Sarah worsens the situation by asking if "Oto-tan" was good, not realising what Flint meant, and Flint chases Dr.Goodman out of the lab and into town, stomping on Dino & Mite in the process. Flint causes havoc as he chases Dr.Goodman throught the city, lifting up cars and throwing them at Goodman; Z•Z has been watching and comments the boy is too reckless to be a time detective before stepping out with Bubblegum to stop him. Meanwhile, Flint's rampage is on the news, much to Sarah and Tony's shock. The noise wakes Rocky, who apparently was stuck as a stone block. Back where Flint is, Z•Z goes to fight Flint, but his back gives in leaving Bubblegum to have to step in. From out of nowhere, Petra's stamp lands on his head, leaving her familiar P-mark on his head and he turns into Bubblegum con. Dr. Goodman tries to sneak off, but Flint catches him. Getalong fires his love beam at Bubblegum, but the beam has no effect. When Getalong is attacked, Flint defends him, Z•Z notes how they treat each other. As Bubblegum continues to attack, Flint hears the familair voice of his father. Bubblegum fires a canonball at Flint, he leaps onto it and rides it, changing its direction to hit Petra's ship. Defeated, Bubblgum reverts back to normal. As news of Petra's defeat spread on the news, the Dark Lord is not happy with the events. With the misunderstanding of Rocky Hammerhead's fate cleared up, Z•Z discusses Flint becoming a Time detective. Just then, Z•Z's back gives in. Dr. Bernard makes a Ridon, Flint and Rocky are programmed with language understanding so they can travel to any time period without hindrance and Rocky is made into a stone axe. The chapter ends with Jitterbug being mentioned. Chapter 3: Rock With The Dancing Himiko & Haniwa Jitterbugmanga.jpg|To battle! Jitterconmanga.jpg|Jitterbug-Kon apears Letter 0001 NEW.jpg|Himiko, looking different to her anime counterpart In the 2nd century Japan, Queen Himiko is stressed from the combined pressures of being Queen and having to make predictions when a fragment of pottery falls on her head, more pieces fall in front of her all belonging to the time shifter Jitterbug. Back in the future the Goodman twins as their teacher Miss Iknow about the time period, Sarah mentions that they're looking for a time shifter, though botches the name and is corrected by Tony before the two leave; after which it's revealed to the reader that their teacher is really Petra in disguise. As the twins arrive at Dr. Bernard Goodman's lab more information comes in and Flint is excited for his first job, though he believes it's a type of food and Sarah thinks so as well. After receiving the card the children, time shifters, and Pterry all set off, though Tony has some concerns about having to be the sole responsible member of the group. Meanwhile in the past, Himiko has finished putting Jitterbug together as best she can, but there is a piece missing. Jitterbug assures her he doesn't mind and Himiko confides in him that she's tired of being put on a pedestal due to her talent and the status they've given her. The shifter gives her a motivational speech about how being royalty means protecting the happiness of your people and being adored in return, though the Queen questions his solutions all involving dancing, she's motivated to try again. However, after performing the ritualistic dance she only manages something similar to a daily horoscope saying what items are lucky today (Which two men overhear and go to tell people to gather the items). Jitterbug suggests that she may just need a new dance and uses his powers of controlling movement to try and help Himiko, as she's dancing Flint and company appear behind her also performing the minyo style dance she's doing. Though initially startled she becomes smitten with Tony as he apologises....and mortified as she realises he saw her dancing earlier. Petra arrives in the time period and uses the time shifter radar she received in a New Years grab bag (Though Dino & Mite are sceptical as all the other items in the bag were useless) eventually they're lead to Jitterbug's missing piece, but think it's just a broken piece of pottery and Petra begins to destroy the town in frustration. Everyone notices the attack but Himiko is too frustrated to do anything, which earns her a scolding from Jitterbug. Flint and the others decide to go instead since Himiko & Jitterbug are their friends, when Tony goes to help to Himiko asks why and he explains that even though he's afraid, he's willing to try for his friends. Flint goes to arrest Petra but begins to bang a drum instead, having confused "taiho" (meaning arrest) with taiko (a type of drum). Jitterbug steps up to fight her and Petra notices he's missing a piece and realises it's the piece of ceramic she found earlier; this makes her change her approach and she instead gives Jitterbug his missing piece, however she stamps it beforehand and the shifter is instantly placed under her control and transformed into Jitterbug-kon who begins eating dirt and baking them into earthenware missiles. During the fight Getalong tries to stop a missile aimed at Flint and the others when it's deflected by a sword; though Getalong does not see Wolfen himself but they know it was him who interfered in his master form. Seeing everyone is in trouble Himiko is moved to help by performing her divination dance to remind Jitterbug of the time they spent together which causes him to hesitate. Flint recovers enough to take advantage of the opening and throw Jitterbug-kon in the air, he then grabs his friends and takes them onto the shifter's back and use their combined weight to guide him onto the deflected missile and shatter him. Petra and her henchmen are chased by an angry mob while Himiko puts the freed Jitterbug back together and vows to remember the lessons the group has taught her and to always protect her people. As they leave Himiko's people thank her for saving them by helping to stop Jitterbug-kon and Tony decides that he'll do his best as the responsible one....even though it's made more difficult by Jitterbug & Bubblegum fighting over food at meal times. Chapter 4: I don't want a sad ending Letter 0002 NEW.jpg|Andersen in the manga Talenkonmanga.jpg|Talen-Kon appears Sarah enters the room Flint is playing with the rescued Time Shifters in, crying. Flint and the Time shifters try and cheer her up, Tony thinks their methods won't work but Sarah bursts into laughter anyway. Sarah explains the reason for her tears was she read the story of The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen. As Tony reads the story, the others too find it tear inducing. They get the idea to go back in time to save the little match girl, as they leave Tony expresses surprise that there are people besides his sister who become engrossed in stories so easily. Meanwhile, Petra is reading another story by Hans Christian Andersen The Little Mermaid, however the ending is altered with the Prince having the Mermaid arrested for stalking. As Petra demands to know what's going on Talen appears out of the book. When Flint and the others arrive in Anderson's time period Sarah explains the plan to rescue the match girl by asking Mr Anderson to change the ending and the shifters talk amongst themselves about somebody who could enter the worlds inside stories. Upon find Mr Anderson's home they a group of people are at his door throwing copies of his books; Sarah is puzzled by this and upon inspecting one of the discarded books they find Petra has stamped Talen and is using her powers to berate the Prince for his callous treatment of the Mermaid, before falling for him herself. Flint and company try to stop her, but are unable to enter the book. Anderson appears and is confronted by Flint & his friends; though he appreciates their feelings, upon seeing a poor child standing in the cold as a better off mother & child walk by, he apologises that he cannot change the ending. Just then a note is left next to Getalong saying that if they stay close to Mr Anderson they will find a way into the book, Getalong realises it is from Wolfen and that he survived the eruption. Above her are Wolfen, Bindi and Merlock Holmes, Merlock asks Wolfen why he won't appear himself and the shifter explains he feels he has no right to after failing to protect the land of time from the Dark Lord and letting himself being used by evil. As Anderson sits down to write he thinks of Flint & Sarah and regrets upsetting them. Just then, Dino, Mite and Talen pop out of the book he is writing and kidnap Anderson by dragging him into the book to prevent him from fixing the stories they've changed. Flint manages to grab Mite's hair and is dragged into the book, with everyone else being dragged in as well when Jitterbug grabs him. Inside the story, Petra has seized control of all of Anderson's stories and is making everyone do her bidding, suddenly everyone sucked in by Talen's powers lands on her. When confronted by Jitterbug Talen hides from his sword as she's afraid of sharp objects, Bubblegum then traps Talen in a bubble which frightens her when it rises. Petra gets angry at Talen for being so weak and cowardly as Bubblegum & Jitterbug explain that Talen is a liability; however Flint argues that if Talen is weak they should help her, just like they wanted to help the little match girl, which makes the two shifters feel ashamed of their words. After being yelled at Talen asked for food fried in oil when Mite gives her some she is able to transform into Talen-kon, much to Petra's delight. The transformation leaves Talen dizzy and when she sees Flint and the others after he calls out to her, they appear to have five heads which causes Talun to panic. She spins her tails around her body to form a ball-like shield, Flint attempts to reach her but she lashes out smashing his belt, knocking Petra and company away and destroying the castle. Rocky realises there's no way they can win like this and instructs Flint to stall for time. Anderson protects his characters from the rubble of the collapsing castle, seeing this makes Sarah realise that despite some of his stories having sad endings he genuinely cares about his characters. Meanwhile, Flint sees Talen swerve away from a fallen turret castle he realises that even though she's transformed, Talun is still afraid of the same things as before. This gives him the idea to launch Talun into the air like a panda does with a ball, this causes her to panic and revert back to normal as Flint catches her. Outside the book Anderson once again tells everyone that as much as he appreciates their feelings he cannot change the ending, explaining that there are people like the match girl everywhere in the world and he wrote the story to help people to realise this and step up to help them. As he explains the meeting from before repeats, this time with the child pulling away from their mother to give their scarf to the poor child; seeing this Sarah understands and reassures her friends she won't cry anymore. Later she's reading the story again at home while Flint and the shifters listen outside her room, when she nears the end she sees a page Flint has taped to her book with a new ending where the girl becomes friends with all of them, which makes Sarah smile. Meanwhile Petra, Dino & Mite are still trapped in the book and selling matches. Chapter 5: Discover The New Continent! The Ocean Crossing Idiot Bubblegumjittermaster.jpg|Clash of the Titans! Merlockmanga1.jpg|Nice hat Merlock! Manhacmaster.jpg|Yo-ho-ho, Coconaut joins the breakfast battle! The chapter opens with Merlock watching over Christopher Columbus as he sails to America when Coconaut appears in mid-air and lands on the Captain's head. Meanwhile Bubblegum & Jitterbug have both shape-shifted into their master forms and Flint has put on a makeshift set of armour made from various buckets and pots....so they can all fight over food at breakfast while Tony cooks for the family. Later when en route to their next mission Tony wonders how somebody as clueless as Flint could be a time detective, but Pterry explains that some people may seem foolish but turn out to be amazing citing Christopher Coloumbus as being a prime example; everyone thought he was crazy when he suggested you could reach India from Europe by sailing west, but he turned out to be right, though he mistakenly believed America was India. Meanwhile, Petra in her Miss Iknow disguise receives a phone call explaining that the children are going to America and won't be in class today and decides she'll follow them to ensure America is never discovered, preventing unhappy memories she has involving American things. Back on the Santa Maria, Merlock becomes frustrated with Columbus's nonsensical personality and method of navigating (following the sun west and turning backwards once it sets) when Flint and company show up. Flint is initially confused that there are time detectives besides him and Z•Z, but Pterry explains that normally time detectives use time machines to watch over important historical events and protect them. Merlock at first thinks the newcomers are time criminals while Columbus notices that they flew through the air and believes they are yoga masters from India, Tony asks Merlock why the captain is acting so strangely and he explains that it's likely from Coconaut knocking him on the head when he fell. Getalong tells Coconaut that they've come to take him home, but he explains that he wants to find out what's beyond the horizon, Columbus recognises the shifter as being a kindred spirit....before suggesting more nonsensical ways to help them find India. Merlock notices Flint trying them along with the crew and tells him to stop playing around and take Coconaut home, but Flint wants to let him fulfill his promise to sail with the captain. Exasperated, Merlock explains that their job is to protect history and how if even one part changes everything will, and that if Flint won't take Coconaut back home he will. Flint tries to stop him and Merlock begins to fight him, however during Merlock's speech Flint realises that he must have lost somebody important to him and Merlock explains that he's a vampire, but due to the fear around them in the 19th century they were wiped out until he was the only one remaining. Flint begins to tear up after realising how lonely he must be and declares he wants to help him, Columbus is moved by Flint's kindness and decides he wants to invite him to join his crew. Just then Coconaut is stamped by Petra and transforms into Coconaut-kon and the two time detectives start to fight him, but he jumps into the sea and creates a blast of water so strong it destroys the mast, making it impossible to sail. Ototan tells Flint that they need to get Coconaut-kon out of the water, which Flint does by peeing into the ocean causing the shifter to leap out of the water in disgust, allowing Flint to knock him onto the boat, tie him to the back and use the blasts of water he attacked with to propel the ship and reach America right as Merlock recovers from being knocked out during the fight. Coconaut-kon is then brought onto the front of the ship in time to watch with Columbus as America comes into view, causing him to remember their promise and revert to normal. Merlock is surprised that Flint managed to restore history and realises he underestimated both him and the captain as the group heads back home and hopes that the new continent will be a place humans, vampires, and time shifters will be able to co-exist in. Later we see that the fights over breakfast have gotten more heated with the addition of another shifter, while Petra and company are sailing home on top of their crashed ship. Chapter 6: Good-Bye! Hot-Blooded!? Home Run!!! The time bureau receives a message from the old timer about a time shifter having been sighted in 20th century New York at a ballpark, Flint mistakenly believes a ballpark is food and gets excited (damaging more walls than he already had in the process). Meanwhile Petra has already stamped Batterball and is using him to have her baseball team beat every team in the league, including Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees, having gotten the tip to look for him from a package of gum. Mite asks Petra why she's trying to build a team of unstoppable baseball players and she explains that it's so the Hanshin Tigers can finally win. Flint and company show up to stop her, though Sora is upset since she's also a Tigers fan. Petra declares that since they're on a baseball field they should settle the matter with a baseball game: the winning team gets Batterball. Getalong is against the idea since Batterball can control the ball to move however he wants, but Rocky berates the shifter for their lack of faith. Flint on the other hand is fired up and willing to try, though he and the other shifters have no idea how baseball is played and eventually the teams are formed (with Dr. Goodman filling in the 9th spot) and Pterry plays the role of announcer. Between Petra's team having Batterball and most of Flint's team lacking in knowledge of how the sport is played the game quickly becomes one sided and Batterball begins to feel dissatisfied, however his fighting spirit is restored when Flint manages to catch a fly ball. Unfortunately by the final inning Petra's team still has a lead of almost 90 points and Flint is at bat and the only member who still fully believes they can win; the boy's optimism starts to win over Batterball, but Petra has him shape shift to Batterball-kon. The shifter attacks with a flurry of baseballs and Dr. Goodman is annoyed by Petra's poor sportsmanship, however Flint found the game fun and manages to hit all of Batterball-kon's next flurry by digging out a chunk of Earth and flinging it back, catching all of the balls and Batterball himself.The 1000 homes runs he hit are more than enough to win the game and restore the shifter to normal. Meanwhile Petra is frustrated over having lost yet again in a life that's been full of disappointments, Dr Goodman approaches her and offers his friendship, telling her the happiness doesn't depend on winning or losing, but the journey there.This sparks a change of spirit in Petra and she begins to make peace with everything that's happened. Just ten Wolfen shows up and inform everybody that they've found the villain who had been manipulating Petra and tells them that they'll have to travel through time and space to gather the other time shifters and stop him. As the children and time shifters head off the two adults are left behind, Dr. Goodman invites Petra for tea while Petra finds he reminds her of her crush on Rocky (and wonders if perhaps he has a more rugged side hidden away). Later Merlock & Bindi, Z•Z, and the Old Timer receive letters from Getalong saying that their adventures are still continuing and they've gathered a lot of friends, that Dr. Goodman & Miss Iknow got married and had a baby boy, but since she's such a scary wife Dr. Goodman took his child and ran away, but they're sure they'll find them someday, in the meantime they're all very happy. Trivia *In Chapter 2, the poster for the pet booth Dino & Mite's eggs came from features Pikachu from Pokémon on it, although its eyes are covered by a censor bar. **Another Pokemon reference comes later in the chapter when you see that one of Petra's childhood misfortunes was not being able to buy the new "Bokemon" Gold & Silver versions when somebody else bought the last copy, a reference to the then recently announced Pokemon games of the same name *The "Senttakey" fried chicken box shown in chapter 2 is a play on "Sentaku" (Laundry) and Kentucky Fried Chicken with the logo being a washing machine with Colonel Sanders style glasses and mustache *Translator badges do not exist in the manga, instead language is inserted into the brain via a computer. *Z•Z's computer runs on a windows operations system - the operating system is actually a set of windows! *There is some design inconsistency within the manga. **The snake head on Lynx's band has a cobra hood in chapter 1 and a more reptilian tail. At the end of the manga, he is almost identical to how he appears in the anime. **Merlock's ears are drawn smaller in Chapter 5, in Chapter 4, they are also a different shape and drawn less human-like. *This is the only time the Shifter Ekoeko is seen within the actual storyline. *In chapter 4 one of the trees in the story book world sport a face very similar to Wispy Woods from the Kirby franchise. *At the time the manga had been published the Hanshin Tigers had not had any major victories in over 10 years and would not win a pennant until 2003, hence Petra wanting to build them a winning team. *This manga adaption has a unique plot bunny about Flint & Rocky possibly being related to the Goodman family.